Tech Review | The Internet Broke The Media & There's No Going Back

Tech Review (TR 2017-12-02)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) The Internet Broke the Media & There's No Going Back, 2) Caveat Emptor BLU Smartphones, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes: Tax Reform, Student Debt, EU, Venture Capital, 4)ICYMI Tech News.

1) The Internet Broke the Media & There's No Going Back:

Bob Iger Says the World of TV Has Been Disrupted

Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger discusses the company's new streaming apps and plans for ESPN. He speaks with Emily Chang at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in Los Angeles on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Australia" Oct 3, 2017.

Why ESPN Is Laying Off More Staffers

ESPN is firing about 150 people, according to a person familiar with the matter, eliminating about 2 percent of its workforce as subscriptions decline and costs rise for the rights to air live sporting events. Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw and Cory Johnson have more on "Bloomberg Technology" Nov 29, 2017.

There is no silver bullet for what the internet and smartphones have destroyed https://t.co/tezFJNwuj6 pic.twitter.com/mfqgjd6BLW

— Bloomberg Gadfly (@gadfly) November 28, 2017

"Google and Facebook leave little room for competition ... What's the fix? There is none. Sorry ... The best approach is to have a coherent strategy, make money from multiple sources, minimize costs and lower expectations. And even if companies do all these things, they still may not survive. Digital media companies aren't the only ones casting about for survival strategies. Traditional media companies have a tough slog, too. And nearly every industry is learning that business models are breaking, and it's not easy to put them back together"--Bloomberg.com.

See also: Time Wasn't on Its Side | Bloomberg.com: "a bittersweet day for Old Media. Time Inc., publisher of the namesake iconic magazine, is selling out as its print-advertising revenue shrinks, with little offset by its ambitious digital efforts."

2) Caveat Emptor BLU Smartphones: 

Miami smartphone maker BLUproducts.com "blew" the Android "security update" to Life One X2  smartphones as owners reported being "locked out" of their phones after the OTA update installed--some have reported on Facebook and elsewhere that even after trying a "hard reset" their phones were "bricked"--

BLU Products  | facebook.com/BLU.Products comments: "Why are you guys still sending out this OTA update when you clearly must understand that there is something seriously wrong with it. It just locked out my wife's phone and then I start Googling and find out you have been aware of the problem for days. I wish I had done a quick check before going ahead with it. Very frustrating and disappointing Blu."

Maria:  BLU, you guys could calm a lot of this uproar by acknowledging the issue on your page as a post and not within the comments. It would show that you guys are dedicated to fixing the problem by admitting the issue and assuring us of a resolution within a reasonable time frame. Whether it be a forced update to fix, working pass code or a replacement phone of equal or greater value.  BLU: Hi Maria, this is not an automated response. I am a real person just like you and I can tell you that BLU is working around the clock for a solution on the issue.

3) Investing

The Week: U.S. markets posted strong weekly gains, with the Dow (DJIA) posting its best weekly performance in nearly a year, and the S&P 500's weekly gain of 1.5 per cent was the best weekly performance for the benchmark index in 11 weeks, all the more notable in view of the latest drama in D.C.

Investing Notes:  
What ETF Flows Are Saying About Tax Reform

Bloomberg Intelligence's Eric Balchunas and Bloomberg's Abigail Doolittle examine the impact of the Senate tax bill on the ETF market. They speak on "Bloomberg Markets" on Dec 1, 2017. Also note Balchunas's comments at the end about possible future bitcoin ETFs on the U.S. markets.

• Student Debt: Taibbi: The Great College Loan Swindle | RollingStone.com: How universities, banks and the government turned student debt into America's next financial black hole.
• EU: What Merkel’s political woes mean for the EU | Reuters.com

• Venture Capital: There’s an implosion of early-stage VC funding, and no one’s talking about it | TechCrunch.com

4) ICYMI 

Tech News:

• Are iPhone X, Galaxy Note 8 at $1,000 really 10 times better than $100 Nokia 2? | ZDNet.com

• Tesla switches on giant battery to shore up Australia's grid | reuters.com

• Amazon Merchants Continue to Find Ways to Cheat | Bloomberg.com: "Hiring click-farms to game reviews spikes when buying peaks."
• BlackBerry loses payment dispute with Nokia, to pay $137 million | reuters.com

• Amazon steps up pace in artificial intelligence race | reuters.com

• Qualcomm files new patent infringement complaints against Apple | reuters.com

• Social Media & Mobile Phones Fall From Grace | charleshughsmith.blogspot.com

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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Disney CEO Robert Iger Sees Dramatic Shift in Media Consumption (video)

Disney’s Iger Sees Dramatic Shift in Media Consumption

Videos above and below published Aug 8, 2017:  Disney $DIS Chairman and CEO Robert Iger discusses the decision to stop selling movies to Netflix $NFLX and begin offering ESPN sports programming and family films directly to consumers via two new streaming services. He speaks with David Westin on “Bloomberg Technology.”

• The Walt Disney Company
• Principal Domain Names: Disney.com and TheWaltDisneyCompany.com
• Stock exchange: symbol  |  NYSE: DIS

Disney’s Iger Won’t Say If He Looked at Buying Netflix $NFLX

Disney Chairman and CEO Robert Iger discusses Netflix, disruption by digital technology, and the new ESPN online service. He speaks with David Westin on “Bloomberg Technology.”

The Walt Disney Company, also known as Disney, is a U.S.-based diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate, headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.

• Founded: October 16, 1923, Los Angeles, CA
• Subsidiaries: Pixar, Walt Disney World, Disney Store, MORE
• Founders: Walt Disney, Roy O. Disney

source: Statista.com

Disney Is A Canary - Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) | SeekingAlpha.com: "... problem: The content cost per subscriber for Comcast (and Comcast-like entities) is much, much higher than for Netflix. It’s roughly 10x higher (~$207 per quarter per sub at Comcast, ~$19 per quarter per sub at Netflix) ... if the content industry was to let Netflix conquer the entire content-consuming market, the entire content industry would have to live on 1/10th the revenues. That’s not going to happen .... the price difference is anchored on much lower content costs which seem highly unsustainable."
source: Statista.com

Disney's Challenges to Building a Streaming Future

Video above published Aug 9, 2017: Barton Crockett, analyst at FBR Capital Markets, examines the challenges that Walt Disney Co. faces in build its own streaming media services. He speaks with Bloomberg's Mark Barton on "Bloomberg Markets."

See also: The Walt Disney Company to Acquire Majority Ownership of BAMTech | thewaltdisneycompany.com

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Digital Winners: Nike, Experticity; & Losers: ESPN, Social Media Influencers

Scott Galloway: Nike's Billion-Dollar Bargain

Video above published Mar 23, 2017 by L2inc.com: Scott Galloway on last week's digital "winners and losers"--

• Loser: ESPN, as subscribers flock to streaming platforms and ad revenue declines.
• Winner or Loser? Nike, for its $1 billion deal with Cristiano Ronaldo.
• Winner: Salespeople. With influencers losing trust, brands are now recruiting "expert" salespeople to rep their products.
• Winner: Students turning to GoFundMe to cover the cost of their college educations.

Domains referenced:
ESPN.com
Nike.com
Experticity.com
GoFundMe.com

Sources:
(0:06) L2 Analysis of Business Insider Data. http://read.bi/2ldrPbO
(0:10) “NFL Signs TV Rights Deals with Fox, NBC, and CBS,” Los Angeles Times, December 2011. http://lat.ms/1mZMeM2
(0:10) “Sports Finance,” Gil Fried, Timothy D. DeSchriver, Michael Mondello. http://amzn.to/2mYomL3
(0:15) "ESPN Is Going to Lay Off a Lot of Familiar Faces," New York Post, March 2017. http://nyp.st/2mbgfLj
(0:15) "Source: Looming ESPN Layoffs Have Sparked ‘Panic of Biblical Proportions’ Among Talent," Sporting News, March 2017. http://bit.ly/2nrW7HI
(0:21) “Mobile ESPN to Launch Nationwide in Best Buy Stores,” ESPN, October 2005. http://es.pn/2o98oh6
(0:36) “Cristiano Ronaldo Generated $500 Million In Value For Nike In 2016,” Forbes, February 2017. http://bit.ly/2mUQ62c
(0:42) “Whether LeBron Has A $1B Deal Or Not, Michael Jordan Is Still The King Of Nike,” Forbes, May 2016. http://bit.ly/2nrWEJm
(0:50) “Ronaldo Beats Messi By 800% When It Comes To Return On Social Media For Their Brands,” Forbes, February 2017. http://bit.ly/2mUT8nb
(1:07) TRACKALYTICS, March 2017. http://bit.ly/2nbC9yA
(1:22) “This Company Makes Influencers Out of Everyday People,” Mashable, February 2017. http://on.mash.to/2nrNZqA
(1:27) crunchbase, March 2017. http://bit.ly/2nVJLoJ
(1:39) “This Company Makes Influencers Out of Everyday People,” Mashable, February 2017. http://on.mash.to/2nrNZqA
(1:56) “Do You Hear That? It Might Be the Growing Sounds of Pocketbooks Snapping Shut and the Chickens Coming Home,” AEIdeas, August 2016. http://bit.ly/2nHvdfr
(2:01) Irrational Exuberance, Robert Shiller. http://amzn.to/2o98DZE
(2:04) “GoFundMe for College,” Brittany Gofundme, February 2017. http://bit.ly/2o9bfXm

YouTube.com auto-generated transcript:
0:02  Loser: ESPN.
0:03  The triple whammy of the loss of 12 million subscribers in the past six years,
0:07  escalating costs for the rights to broadcast live sporting events,
0:10  and declining ad revenue
0:13  led ESPN to announce layoffs last week.
0:16  Consumers are not consuming less content.
0:18  They're consuming it in a different way.
0:20  ESPN made early forays into digital
0:22  but never figured out how to move away from expensive on-air talent contracts
0:27  or its dependency on the outdated business model of squeezing premiums from cable providers.
0:32  Winner or loser? Nike,
0:34  who signed a billion-dollar lifetime endorsement deal
0:36  with the Real Madrid soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in December.
0:40  Ronaldo joins LeBron James and Michael Jordan as the only athletes to reach this milestone.
0:46  This might actually be a bargain for Nike.
0:50  Ronaldo generated half that fee, or $500 million, in value for the brand
0:54  from his social media channels in 2016.
0:57  Ronaldo published 347 posts that mentioned Nike,
1:01  garnering almost half a billion interactions.
1:04  His 120 million fans on Facebook make him the most popular person on the platform.
1:11  A winner: salespeople.
1:12  With social media influencers facing declining trust,
1:15  companies are investing in the credibility garnered from retail salespeople.
1:18  Experticity - what a stupid name - which operates an exclusive social network of more than a million retail experts
1:26  has raised $30 million in venture capital.
1:28  Buy some common sense with that money. Experticity?
1:32  In exchange for listening to brand pitches, salespeople get discounts and exclusive access to products.
1:37  750 brands have signed on,
1:39  including The North Face, Adidas, Nickelodeon, and most recently Reebok
1:44  which is using Experticity to promote a new shoe to serious runners.
1:48  A winner: students.
1:50  Yeah, beer, unprotected sex and football games.
1:52  Tell me something I don't know.
1:54  With tuition rising faster than inflation
1:56  and the average college student facing $37,000 in debt,
2:00  students are turning to online fundraising site GoFundMe to help cover the cost.
2:05  Over the past three years,
2:06  more than 130,000 GoFundMe campaigns for college tuition expenses
2:12  have raised $60 million from 850,000 donations.
2:16  Some notable campaigns: E-Jayy's Compton to Harvard campaign raised $21,000
2:21  and Baltimore native Khalil Bridges' campaign to attend community college

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Disney $DIS Bob Iger @BrainstormTech, Keynote Interview (video)

Keynote Interview: Robert Iger

Keynote interview at Brainstorm Tech 2016 | Fortune Conferences July 11-13, Aspen, Colorado. Video published July 11, 2016. 

Robert Allen "Bob" Iger is an American businessman who became the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, the parent of ABC Inc. and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, on September 30, 2005. 

The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney, is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. ABC, Inc. d/b/a Disney–ABC Television Group (a/k/a Disney–ABC) manages all of The Walt Disney Company's Disney and ABC-branded television properties. The group includes the ABC Television Network (including ABC Daytime, ABC Entertainment, and ABC News divisions), as well as Disney's 50% stake in A&E Television Networks and its 80% controlling stake in ESPN, Inc. While holding the controlling stake in ESPN, Disney–ABC and ESPN operate as separate units of Disney Media Networks (Wikipedia).

• Domain Name: thewaltdisneycompany.com
• Investor Relations: thewaltdisneycompany.com/investor-relations
• Stock Exchange: Symbol - NYSE: DIS
• http://stocktwits.com/symbol/DIS

Tweets about $DIS
Tweets by brainstormtech

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Yahoo, Fan Duel, Draft Kings: Fantasy Sports, Daily, Weekly Contests

Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) Rolls Out New Fantasy-Sports Feature: Daily, Weekly Contests - Bloomberg’s Emily Chang reports on the number of fantasy-sports players across the U.S. and Canada in “BWest Byte” on “Bloomberg West,” July 9th. (Source: Bloomberg)

Money quote: "Betting on sports is illegal outside of Las Vegas but Fantasy Sports 'get a pass' because Pro Leagues consider it a 'game of skill'"--Emily Chang, Bloomberg

Daily and weekly contests comprise the fastest growing area of Fantasy Sports. "Links between daily fantasy sports and more traditional forms of wagering are strong. Many members of FanDuel’s executive team used to work in online gambling. (Eccles worked for the UK’s Betfair.) DraftKings is one of the main sponsors of the World Series of Poker, the planet’s largest land-based poker tournament." (source: Quartz, infra)

The bizarre, multibillion-dollar industry of American fantasy sports - Quartz: " ... ESPN, Yahoo, CBS Sports, and the NFL itself, among others, have all built technological platforms for the tasks a fantasy football league requires, such as allocating players fairly among participants, awarding points based on statistical performance, and processing trades of players. The investment in technology is considerable, but for most of the big companies involved, there is a strong business case. ESPN’s head of fantasy sports, George Leimer, says that during the football season, fantasy participants drive 17% of traffic to the company’s websites, which average around 90 million unique visitors each month ... Fantasy players are considered the most engaged fans of the NFL ... Walt Disney (owner of ESPN), which also operates theme parks, has long distanced itself from anything remotely associated with gambling. That could mean it is a two-horse race between FanDuel [which secured $70 million from investors including NBC Sports Ventures, private-equity fund KKR, and the National Basketball Association] and DraftKings for control of the fast-growing short-term market..." (emphasis added)

Fan Duel, Draft Kings, and now Yahoo! According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, more than 30 million Americans participate in fantasy football leagues, and spent an estimated $11 billion on the activity last year.

Domain names of companies referenced:
Yahoo: yahoo.com and Yahoo Fantasy Sports: sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/
Draft Kings: draftkings.com
Fan Duel: fanduel.com
ESPN: espn.com and games.espn.go.com/frontpage/
CBS Sports: cbssports.com and cbssports.com/fantasy
NFL: nfl.com and fantasy.nfl.com
Fantasy Sports Trade Association: fsta.org

Why Fantasy Sports is NOT Gambling - Fantasy Sports Trade Association: "... The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 included "carve out" language that clarified the legality of fantasy sports. It was passed by Congress and signed into law on October 13, 2006 by President George W. Bush. The act makes transactions from banks or similar institutions to online gambling sites illegal, with the notable exceptions of fantasy sports, online lotteries and horse/harness racing. The bill specifically exempts fantasy sports games, educational games or any online contest that "has an outcome that reflects the relative knowledge of the participants, or their skill at physical reaction or physical manipulation (but not chance), and, in the case of a fantasy or simulation sports game, has an outcome that is determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of sporting events, including any non-participant's individual performances in such sporting events..."


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